The Sensitive Mind Is a Creative Mind

Why sensitivity is not a curse, but a blessing.

Pearl S. Buck, the American novelist and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize, captured what it means to be a highly sensitive person:The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create—so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.

I keep this quote pinned to the wall above my desk, to remind myself, I suppose, that there are other sensitive types out there like me, that the way I feel and experience life is not imagined but real, and that my sensitivity is not a curse, but a blessing, because it feeds my creativity.

I could not be creative without being so sensitive. Sensitivity can be overwhelming, but it is also like having extra RAM on my personal hard drive. Where someone might be aware of three things in a room, I am aware of ten, instantly, often subconsciously and whether I want to or not. I absorb information about the temperature of the room, the brightness of the lights, the colours and designs of the furniture, the feelings of the people around me, and every single sound within earshot, and it all gets sorted into categories and stored until I am bursting at the seams like a warehouse in the Port of Shanghai.

Creativity is the pressure valve for all that accumulated emotional and sensory data. It opens the doors and lets the energy flow out of me and into my work like electricity from Niagara Falls. And when I create, there is a peace and feeling of fulfillment that I can hardly describe. But that doesn't mean it's easy.

In an attempt to wrangle my untamed thoughts and energies into some kind of cohesive corral, I like to read and learn as much as I can and try to gain a little insight. Another HSP trait. We like to absorb knowledge. So I was reading an article about Edward Elgar, the English composer, who was on the verge of giving up composing at one point in his career. He was barely making a living composing and teaching and he felt unappreciated. But his friend August Jaegar encouraged him to keep writing music. Beethoven, Jaegar told him, had worries as well, but he kept writing. He didn't give up. So Elgar kept writing and his next piece was the Enigma Variations, the work that made him famous, and of which he dedicated the Nimrod variation to his friend Jaegar.

Creative people are abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. And sensitive people are unusually creative. It can feel, at times, like too much of everything. But the beauty that can come of that energy, when it is channelled into a creative work, can be sublime.

I have that same quote pinned up at my desk at work along with others that keep me in good company when I'd rather be elsewhere (you have to make a living somehow after all).

As an aside: Would you consider yourself Gifted? It is my personal presumption that even though not all HSPs are Gifted, that all Gifted persons are HSPs - and you seem to be quite bright. If so, do you know of any literature regarding this?

Thanks for your comment. I do consider myself gifted, in the sense that I have some creative abilities and also in being able to pick up others' feelings, culminating in a sort of creative insight and empathy. I like to think I'm bright too, or at least give that impression! Thank you! But it is a bit of a difficult thing to define. Elaine Aron writes something about it on her web site here http://www.hsperson.com/pages/3Nov04.htm in which she suggests that while there is a connection, gifted people are not necessarily all highly sensitive and highly sensitive people are not all gifted. There are a couple of books I know about being gifted. One is The Gifted Adult, by Mary Elaine Jacobsen. Another is called Gifted Grownups by Marylou Kelly Streznewski. Hopefully these will shed some further light on the subject. But thanks for asking!

Thank you for the reply. I've previously read the article at that link. While I agree that it would not be beneficial or accurate to confuse the ideas of being highly sensitive and of being gifted, I think that both communities would benefit greatly by recognizing that: 1) A vast majority of HSPs are gifted without knowing it and would benefit from the additional explanation of their specific wiring 2) The gifted community could finally recognize that being gifted is the fusion of high intelligence and a highly sensitive nervous system.

Then again, I'm relatively new to the discussion, so to speak.

And, sorry for the rant. It's something that I've been mulling over since I found out that I was gifted earlier this year (I've known for a couple of years that I'm an HSP and HSS - High Sensation Seeker). I also think that most gifted persons (or maybe only those who are gifted and ADD) are the combination of HSP-HSS.

My best friend has been one of the few people who I could ask for help when trying to understand my hypersensitivity, who believed and could relate to what I was saying. He was diagnosed as gifted just last year and has been struggling to understand the extent of what that means. We were always able to relate and understand eachother's drives and emotional reactions to those around us. We don't actually visit too much anymore though as we abosorb eachother's feelings and if one of us is even slightly sad, we end up balled up and almost in tears somewhere. It makes sense that he would be HSP as well. I never really thought about this.. thank you.

This article helped me understand some things that had been confusing me a great deal the past few years while I’ve been going to college.
I’ve had depression my whole life, high anxiety and also hypersensitivity. I would talk about my sensitivity to sounds and touch and emotions, but everyone always said it was probably just part of my depression or in my head. You try to explain being aware of your clothes touching your skin and the fact that loud noise can sometimes shake you to the point of wanting to cry and people just say, “yes, you are wearing clothes and loud sounds make everyone jump, but it’s more than that. I gave up trying to communicate and struggled with people. I am an artist and also I love to write. I focused on these activities instead and found that I almost became obsessive over expressing myself through these means. I didn’t understand yet again why I always had to be writing or drawing to help myself get through the day. When I put it down, I’d become overwhelmed with anxiety and eventually I would have to take a day or two to just lay in bed and try and calm myself down. This article is helping me to understand myself. I don’t feel like I’m constantly questioning my motivation anymore to create, no longer asking, “What am I doing with myself? Why do I want to stay home and write, knowing it may never lead to anything, when my peers all go and party on their free nights?
I feel more at peace. I’m just wired a little differently I guess, and I’m not alone like I thought I was. :) Thank you. :)
-Michelle

Thank you so much for your comments Michelle. I can't tell you how much it means to me to know that I'm helping someone feel a little better or understand themselves better. I know just how difficult and confusing it can be to be a sensitive person, especially when everyone is telling you to relax or stop being so sensitive. Writing has always been a cure for anxiety for me, as it gives me an outlet for all that creative energy. I must be wired a little differently too! I hope you keep on doing your art and your writing and feeling great about your sensitivity. It is a gift. And you're not alone! All the best to you.